The GLEC Framework and MBMs: Why Good Emissions Accounting is the Foundation of Book and Claim

Many organizations are moving beyond measuring freight emissions and toward actively reducing them – motivated by corporate climate targets, regulatory developments, investor expectations, and increasing customer demand for lower-emission transport solutions. Budgets are being allocated, and amongst other initiatives sustainable and alternative fuels are entering procurement strategies, with Book and Claim mechanisms offering flexibility across complex supply chains. 
 
However, once companies move from ambition to implementation, a critical question emerges: 
How should these emission reductions be accounted for in a way that is credible, comparable, and aligned with established reporting standards 
 
In particular, organizations may wonder whether purchased green fuel certificates can simply be subtracted from total reported greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. From an established emissions accounting perspective, this type of direct “netting” does not align with recognized reporting conventions and can introduce risk in corporate disclosures. 

This is where standardized emissions accounting becomes essential. 

This article explains why frameworks such as the Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) Framework the seeding document for ISO 14083 provide the methodological foundation required to apply Book and Claim and other Market-Based Measures (MBMs) credibly in freight decarbonization. Rather than acting as a barrier, standardized accounting serves as the bridge that ensures environmental claims are made with transparency, consistency, and verifiability. 

By understanding this foundation, organizations can move from intention to implementation – and from aspiration to accurate reporting. 

Why Standardized Accounting Is Essential for Comparing Transport Emissions

Imagine a housing market in which there is no shared agreement on how property size is measured. Property size could not be compared; prices would vary arbitrarily, and transactions would quickly become unreliable. 

A similar challenge arises when Book and Claim mechanisms are applied without a harmonized emissions accounting framework underpinning the attribute. Without consistent definitions and calculation rules, environmental attributes cannot be compared, transferred, or verified in a meaningful way. 

GLEC Framework addresses this challenge by providing a globally recognized methodology for the calculation and reporting of logistics greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across multimodal supply chains. Developed by the Smart Freight Centre, the framework provides a standardized set of guidelines that allow organizations to calculate their carbon footprint using consistent data inputs and emission factors for road, rail, air, sea, and inland waterways.  

By aligning with the GHG Protocol and ISO 14083, the GLEC Framework enables organizations–ranging from shippers to carriers–to move from high-level estimates to consistent, actionable emissions data. This supports more transparent sustainability reporting and allows organizations to identify emissions hotspots within their logistics activities. 

After completing a hotspot analysis, organizations may consider mitigation pathways that increase the use of low-emission transportation services close to their value chain but not physically connected to it. These approaches include Market-Based Measures (MBMs) such as Book and Claim, applied within a robust chain-of-custody framework. In practice, Book and Claim enables the attribution of verified environmental benefits from lower-emission fuels, even when physical fuel use does not occur on a specific transport leg. For this approach to be credible, organizations must clearly define what is being attributed: not broad sustainability claims or generic offsets, but a clearly defined Low Emission Transportation Service (LETS) 

The GLEC Framework provides the methodological foundation for defining such services. By establishing standardized units, such as tonne-kilometers and emission intensity factors, it enables the consistent quantification and comparison of transport services. When applied correctly, this framework supports the attribution of verifiable emission reduction attributes in a manner suitable for reporting and assurance. 

Alignment With Corporate Reporting and Audit Requirements

Organizations may wish to communicate progress by stating: "We reduced our carbon emissions by X%." 

However, as earlier mentioned, simply purchasing generic carbon credits and subtracting them from reported emissions can resemble “netting,” an approach that is generally not permitted under established accounting frameworks, such as the GHG Protocol, and may introduce risk in corporate reporting. 

The GLEC Framework and MBM documentation address this issue. 

Emissions are calculated based on the characteristics of a Low Emission Transportation Service (LETS), which represents a specific quantity of mode-specific transportation activity (such as tonne-kilometers or TEU-kilometers) with a verified lower emission intensity. This unit-based structure matches how shippers and LSPs already report transport activity in their GHG inventories, enabling direct integration of verified environmental attributes. 

When organizations purchase Book and Claim attributes, they apply the verified emission intensity of the LETS to their transportation activity. This attributional accounting approach substitutes verified lower-emission data for baseline reference fuel or service assumptions. 

Without GLEC-aligned accounting and MBM guidance, reported reductions may appear insufficiently substantiated. 
With GLEC and MBM applied, organizations are reporting transport services with demonstrably lower emission intensities. 

The result is emissions reporting that supports transparency and meets audit and assurance expectations. 

Verification Supports Credibility 

Book and Claim relies on a chain-of-custody system to track environmental attributes as they are transferred through the value chain. This requires consistent definitions and shared rules to ensure that all parties apply the mechanism in the same way. 

The MBM Specification provides the standard for organizations to transparently document, report, and independently assure their in-value-chain, market-based activities enabled by a book and claim chain of custody. 

Auditors require such a standard to verify accounting and reporting of claims, resulting in the confidence that investments in sustainable fuel are backed by rigorous, auditable systems. 
Looking Ahead
Current developments mark a shift from measurement-focused emissions tracking to the active implementation of decarbonization levers. 

With the GLEC Framework providing a standardized basis for emissions calculation, and the MBM Framework together with its MBM Specification defining how LETS attributes are transferred and verified, organizations are able to pursue supply-chain decarbonization even in cases where physical low-emission transport service options, are not yet available on specific routes. 

Emissions accounting following the GLEC framework should therefore be understood as an enabling mechanism. It provides the methodological foundation for moving sustainability objectives from intent to verifiable outcomes. 

Do you want to learn more about emissions accounting, Book and Claim and Market-Based Measures? Enroll in the courses below: 

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